“For each e-book that was on a New York Timesbestseller list (Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Advice) the distribution will be $1.32 per unit; for books not on the New York Times Bestseller list, and sold within a year of initial publication (frontlist), the distribution will be $0.36 per book. For each book that was not on the New York Times Bestseller list and was sold more than one-year following initial publication (backlist), the distribution will be $0.25 per book. For books which cannot be determined to be frontlist or backlist, consumers will receive a blended credit of $0.30 per unit.”_________________Gone to Rainbow Bridge - Lily 2000-2011

I don't know why publishers don't beef up their websites and offer deals/coupons/buy 4 for 3/etc deals themselves. It irks me that Amazon's $9.99 pricing is blamed for the alleged "demise" of brick-and-mortar stores and cannibalizing of print sales (even though we still have B&N, Books-A-Million, and scores of thriving indies still in existence), when the only reason Amazon gained such a large percentage of e-book readers is because they launched an aggressive campaign to promote the Kindle. I own a Sony Reader (the discontinued PRS 700), and the only reason why I even own the device is because Sony gave SBTB a bunch of them to give to test users in 2009. If I hadn't been chosen for this, I would probably own a Kindle, or even a Nook.

IMO, Publishers dug themselves into a hole by continuing to believe their customers were booksellers, not readers, whereas Amazon positioned the Kindle to deliver books to readers with no middleman. If anything, publishers should remember that they give marketing dollars to their top sellers, which means no one thinks about imprint--only Nora Roberts or Stephenie Meyer--and ironically, owning an e-Reader allows readers to skip right over searching for "Pocket Romance" or "Kensington Zebra". You've got to admire Avon though--despite the cries of "Avonization", they've made their brand as indispensable as Harlequin, whereas most couldn't tell a SMP romance from a Signet Eclipse romance.

IMO, Publishers dug themselves into a hole by continuing to believe their customers were booksellers, not readers, whereas Amazon positioned the Kindle to deliver books to readers with no middleman. If anything, publishers should remember that they give marketing dollars to their top sellers, which means no one thinks about imprint--only Nora Roberts or Stephenie Meyer--and ironically, owning an e-Reader allows readers to skip right over searching for "Pocket Romance" or "Kensington Zebra".

I agree and I do own a Nook and do most of my ebook publishing from Barnes and Noble but it always irked me that Amazon was made out to be the bad guy in all of this and I also admired that at least they tried to stand up to them before caving to pressure. If any bookseller were to be to blame for this it would be Apple who wanted to make sure no other bookseller could have a book for less than they do in their ibookstore, it was Apple that gave the publishers the leverage over Amazon and the rest of us with their set ebook prices. Insult to injury that they also allowed no special offers/discounts whatesoever.

Linda_________________"The Bookshop has a thousand books, all colors, hues and tinges, and every cover is a door that turns on magic hinges." ~ Nancy Byrd Turner

I decided to look at ebook prices I've paid by doing a sort on the spreadsheet I keep of all ebooks I buy. I went through and consolidated imprint names where I could identify the owning company, leaving me with the following list with enough ebooks for reasonable counts bought through March 2010 (pre-Agency) and April 2010 and after (Agency era).
The first two numbers are ebooks bought through March 2010, then the average price.
The last two numbers are ebooks bought April 2010 and after, then the average price.
The first group, non-Agency publishers, shows lower average prices for more recent purchases. Sony Readers switched from a proprietary format to epub in late 2009, which made it easier to shop around for better prices. I also raised the upper limit I will pay for an ebook to $9.99 in 2009, but for several publishers the ability look around for good deals clearly outweighed any effects from that decision.
Baen 344 3.25 124 2.93
Dorchester 22 5.85 6 5.31
Ellora's Cave 22 5.51 40 2.80
Harlequin 326 4.67 318 4.33
Kensington 61 6.11 44 5.82
Samhain 8 4.77 30 4.00
Sourcebooks 6 5.85 54 3.73
St. Martin's 40 8.62 124 8.12
The rest show higher average prices:
From Sony Store 1185 6.23 886 7.20
Fictionwise 21 2.92 24 3.39
Hachette 59 5.33 46 7.45
HarperCollins 191 6.50 120 7.30
Penguin 293 7.44 309 7.94
Random House 135 6.83 47 8.35
Simon & Schuster 66 6.57 49 8.19
My siblings & I use 3 Sony Readers for most of our ebooks, and I have bought more of my ebooks from the Sony eBook Store than from anywhere else, so I listed a line for ebooks from that store regardless of publisher. Since that is still the easiest purchase & download for our Readers, I bought many Agency books there since I couldn't get a better price anywhere else. Fictionwise had a better selection and a club discount that went away in an ownership change (the club may still exist, but I didn't renew because too few books I wanted were showing up). The other 5 are, surprise, surprise, the Agency cabal.

This is all well and good, but aside from Harper Collins it seems we're still at the mercy of Agency Pricing. Does anyone know when we'll see that change with S&S and Hatchette, at least? I have a list of books I'm waiting to buy!